V-Men: Fly By
by X-Duo
Summary: When a new mutant called the Griffin arrives at the Xavier Institute, she brings mayhem as well as laughs with her. Logan saves a young girl called Marie from a prison experimenting on mutants, not knowing the chaos she will cause as Rogue, so named by Erik. Then Magneto starts threatening Xavier to hand over the Griffin, and a few skeletons have to be revealed to save the school.
1. Prologue

Prologue

_Captain Steve Rogers_

_They're all over the place, these Hydra agents. Believe me, I know. You've got to trust me on this; there's a big op; bigger than the whole bunch of smaller ones put together. It'll bring this world to its knees in a single night. I'll lead you to it, but only if you promise me that you'll fully trust my judgement. I know more than they think I do. I know more than you will ever be able to understand or I will ever be able to confess. I do hope you understand that I can't let my identity be known to you. If you're willing to believe me on this, you'll find my next note in the training field on base. If you don't like spooky, anonymous tips all that much and you don't want to go with me on this, ignore the note, and I'll leave well enough alone. _

_Hope we can work together on this_

_The Griffin_

Steve ran his hand back over his short-cropped hair as he studied the very first note he had ever received from the strange man. He sighed long and gently set it down on the coffee table in front of him, next to his cold cup of coffee.

He had only come out of the ice a week ago and getting the notes from Nick Fury was a comfort. They had found it among his personal belongings and Fury had kept it along with his motorbike. Many had known how intrigued he was by the shady stranger that had helped him take down one of the biggest Hydra Ops ever to exist.

Leaning forward, he pulled his last letter from the pile and softly unfolded it.

_Hey Cap_

_In a way, I guess that was fun. I'm really glad you decided to trust me. That doesn't happen often with a person like me. But I won't go into the details of that. This is cause for the celebration! Not personal horrors. Well done, Cap. I see why America regards you as such a big hero, and I wish we could have met. I'll always regard you as a brave man, Steve. _

_God bless America!_

_And _semper fi, _Captain America_

_The Griffin_

Steve held the familiar paper to his chest and leaned his head back, closing his eyes and remembering the smell of those notes every time he had received them. He may be this Griffin's hero, but to him, Griffin was the hero, and he had always yearned for the chance to meet him. Just a small glimpse of this amazing person, and his heart would be satisfied forever.

Just a small glimpse to help him regain the past.


	2. The Griffin

Chapter 1

Kurt was running so fast when he collided with the steel wing that he almost gave himself a concussion. He was headed for the floor when something like a warm chord wrapped around his wrist and saved him from his descent. When he had regained his balance, he looked up and met the coldest green eyes he had ever seen. Along with his spinning head, his heart also picked up a pace and he kept hearing Uncle Larry's words; "Don't let it smell fear." Of course, that had been in reference to his Jersey bull that used to give Kurt all hell on the farm, but he imagined a similarity between the angry old bull's eyes and those in front of him now.

He muttered a quick apology and was about to flee when Professor Charles Xavier called him back.

"Kurt, would you come here a minute?"

Kurt turned back and allowed himself a look at the visitor. It was a young girl dressed in a low back shirt and old, stained jeans half covered in knee-high combat boots. The shirt allowed for the freedom of a pair of eagle-like wings that accounted for his near concussion. They swished gracefully through the odours emanating from the kitchen as she fanned herself in the unusual heat of the winter afternoon. Evidently, what had caught him was a lion's tail, twitching like a cat's at her side.

Other than these two mutations, she was a pretty girl. Her long, curly, dark brown hair was tied up in a thick ponytail and escaped strands tickled her tanned cheekbones. Her tight blue shirt revealed a slender, but firm waist and a muscled abdomen. Her arms and legs were similarly muscular and along with her sharp eyes, she didn't come across as one to mess with.

"This is the Griffin," the Professor told Kurt. "She'll be staying with us for a few weeks. Can I put you in charge of making sure she's comfortable?"

Kurt nodded quickly without taking his eyes off the girl, lest she get a homicidal urge and cut his throat with a knife or something.

Contradictory to his fear, a positive change suddenly came over the girl; like she was immerging from a chrysalis that she had been suspended in; trapped inside her own fibres for too long. This dramatic change involved the slight rise of one corner of her mouth, transforming her whole face into an ecstatic butterfly. Her icy eyes turned into an ice rink where you could lose yourself in the snow crystals dancing around your head.

Kurt liked her.

"What's up, Smurf?" she asked casually and brushed her tail through his face.

His appearance had bought him many nicknames in his life. Elf, because of his pointy ears; Hairball because of his fur, and Blue for obvious reasons, but no one had ever gone as far as to dub him 'Smurf'…

"Nice renovations, Love Machine," she said to Xavier, evidently in reference to a T-Shirt he had received a week ago, stating that he wasn't bald, but that it was a generator for a love machine.

"You sent that?" The Professor asked in surprise. "We've been wondering about that…"

A suppressed chuckle escaped Kurt's lips and the Griffin smirked at him.

"It suits you, Baldy," she told Xavier without taking her eyes off of Kurt. "So, Smurf; you gonna show me where I can nest down?"

Kurt looked toward the Professor expectantly.

"Put her in any spare room you see fit, Kurt. Show her around after she's settled. A lot has changed since she left." Xavier shot the Griffin a knowing smile. "If you'll excuse me." With this, he turned his wheelchair and left.

"He hasn't changed a bit," she said in a voice so gentle, it quite surprised Kurt considering her previous behaviour.

They stood like that for a moment; she staring after Xavier and he admiring her outstretched wings.

She was the first to break the silence after Xavier had disappeared around a corner. She turned back to him with a smile that spelt mischief and chucked her small duffle bag at him. "Well, Smurf," she said as he caught it with a grunt, "let's go."

He led the way up the stairs, keeping a constant trail of chatter as they went.

"Where were you headed when you almost knocked yourself silly against my wing, Adolf?" she asked when he stopped for breath.

"Lunch," Kurt answered with a sheepish grin, suddenly very aware of his German accent and his exceptional appetite.

"Ah. Well, I won't keep you from that for too long, especially considering I'm starving too."

Keeping her obvious affection for the Professor in mind, Kurt took her to the spare room next to his. After they had tossed her bag onto the bed, he took her to the dining room, where the entire school had already gathered and were dishing up.

When they noticed Griffin and Kurt in the doorway, an awkward silence fell over the dining table and bowls of food that had been circulating came to a standstill. Curious eyes studied the new student as if they had never seen anything like her, even though Warren, with his white wings, sat among them.

The silence continued until Griffin shot the kids a skew smile and hollered a friendly, "Hi!"

There was a chorus of hellos in return and then the table went back to its usual activity as I nothing had happened.

Kurt took her to Logan's empty seat at the head of the table and left to join his friends when she was settled.

Scott raised his brow at Kurt as he took his seat. "Who's that?"

Kurt started piling food onto his plate and shrugged. "She's called the Griffin. Prof didn't say much; only that she was staying here for a while."

"Oh… _That's_ the Griffin?" Scott frowned. "I was expecting someone a little bit more… well… great. Xavier spoke about her like some big war hero."

"He told you about her?" Kurt asked with a mouth full of potatoes.

"Yeah." He opened his mouth as if he was planning to say something, watching the Griffin from across the table, but apparently changed his mind and shut it again.

"She's pretty cool," Kurt said. He watched her as she poured food down her throat like it was water. "I imagine she'll bring some fun to this mortuary." He stuffed a whole sausage into his mouth and swallowed it before it was properly chewed.

"Slow down, Kurt," Jean said and used her telekinesis to move his plate away from him. "Chew properly."

"There's no time for chewing," Kurt argued and managed to grab the plate with his tail before Jean could get it too far.

"Guys, the Griffin is headed this way. Should I salute or bow or something?" Kitty asked.

Indeed, the girl had emptied her plate of food in record time and was waltzing towards them, her tail swishing behind her. Kurt could almost hear her purring.

She was there before Kitty's question could be answered, and draped her arms and wings over Kurt and Scott's shoulders. "I'm bored," she stated. She turned to face Scott and smiled. "What's up, Shades."

"This is Scott," Kurt introduced. "Scott Summers."

"Oh, the one-eye guy. Kinda like a pirate."

"I prefer Cyclops," Scott muttered indignantly, his pride obviously scathed by her remark.

"You're a group leader here, right?" she asked, ignoring his request. "Captain Red." She tapped the red lenses of his sunglasses.

"Please don't do that."

"Aye aye, Captain," she said and saluted him. She turned to Kurt before he could react. "Hey, Smurf, could you do me a favour?"

He nodded. "Sure."

"Strap down my wings so I don't knock out anyone else while you introduce me to your friends and tell me your mutations." She turned around and for the first time he noticed the leather straps dangling between her wings.

While working at the buckled, he enthusiastically introduced the group. "The redhead is Jean Grey. She's telekinetic. The brunette diva is Kitty Pride or Shadowcat. She can walk through solid objects. You've met Scott. He has laser eyes, but he hasn't quite learnt to control it yet." He finished the jobs of strapping down her wings, his fingers tingling from the soft feathers that had brushed against his hands.

She glanced around the group and started reciting their powers. "Okay, Miss Twinkle Toes moves stuff with her mind; Meow Meow is a ghost and Captain Red is and accident waiting to happen. What about you, Smurf?"

Kurt couldn't help but chuckle at the unmistakable annoyance on his friends' faces. He was a more laid back character and had already got used to the idea of being baptized 'Smurf'. His fellow mutants, on the other hand, were less adaptable. Ironic, considering they were said to be the next step in evolution.

Before any comment could be made about his friends' new nicknames, he answered the Griffin's question. "I'm Kurt Wagner, and I can do this—" With a sudden 'BAMF' and a cloud of blue smoke, he was gone. A moment later, he appeared again with a flower that had been in a vase on the other side of the room. "For you. Welcome to the Xavier Institute." He held the plain daisy toward the Griffin with a silly bow.

She laughed at the spontaneous act and applauded him before accepting his gift. "Good show, Smurf."

For the first time Kurt could remember, he quite forgot about his big appetite. The Griffin had a laugh like none he had ever heard and a personality that made won hate her, and yet involuntarily love her at the same time. Even the cold eyes that had scared his senseless less than an hour ago had thawed in the heat from her heart.

"What about you?" he asked unafraid; already as comfortable with her as he was with Jean or Kitty.

"Well, I'd say that's pretty obvious, don't you think, Smurf?" She said this almost flirtatiously and dragged her tail across his shoulder.

"Well, I heard rumours that you were a class five mutant, and a wing an a tail won't earn you that rank," Scott said irritably, probably still annoyed about his new pet name.

She raised a brow at him. "Class five? Now who told you that? I'd say class four at most, and that's only because I have multiple mutations."

"Could you show us," Kitty asked heartily, noticeably already having accepted the new guest.

The Griffin smile at her. "Well, like your headmaster, I have telepathic powers, but I doubt you wanna see that. I think you'd be more interested in this." She reached back over her shoulder and plucked a feather from her wing. It caught the sun and glistened like a Roman wreath as she handed it to Kitty.

"Oh. My. Word. It's rock solid!" Kitty exclaimed as she studied the feather from all angles.

"And deathly sharp," Griffin added. "You could use that as a blade if you liked."

A small argument broke out as to whom would have a look at the fascinating object next, but Kurt was the first to get to it. "How do you do it?" he asked from his position crouched on the table, having snatched it from Kitty there. He remembered the softness of her feathers as he had strapped her wings down. He couldn't imagine that this was one of those velvety downs.

"I stiffen the bristles. It makes my wings strong enough to withstand bullets."

"A shield," Kitty concluded.

"What about daggers?" Scott asked when it was his turn to examine the blade.

"Oh, sure. You could easily cut a person open with one of those, but I prefer no one know of that. You never know what they could do if they got a hold of me and harvested my feathers."

"Who's 'they'?" Jean asked apprehensively.

"There are many 'they's, Jean. The trick is identifying them." He voice was so serious that an awkward silence fell over the group.

Kurt went back to his seat and started stuffing fresh rolls into his mouth. Scott leaned on his elbow and rolled his peas around his plate. Kitty excused herself after half a minute without finishing her food and Jean followed soon after.

All the while, the Griffin sat motionless on the edge of the table beside Kurt's plate, staring into space as if the dancing dust particles were finally enough to keep her short attention span in check.

Kurt couldn't help but glance up at her every now and then, and as the room emptied he could almost feel her pain like a fire emanating heat. But she was in the core alone, beating the heat as she was too afraid to get out into the cold of reality.


	3. Marie's Escape

Anna Marie sat in her cell, back to the wall, head hung in sorrow and wrists cuffed up to a brick wall.

Marie pushed her tired body up enough to pull her left leg out from underneath her.

Her back sent a sharp pain up her body and she winced, smacking herself back into the wall behind her.

She pursed her chapped lips.

She was long past screaming or calling for help. She'd only get kicked or slapped.

Her best friend used to visit her daily. To her he hadn't shown up in days. In reality it had been years.

The muffled sounds in the old prison were louder than usual today, leaving Marie with the assumption that the commander wasn't interested in experimenting on her today. She felt relief run through her, maybe it was the realization that she could sleep.

Whatever the feeling was, it made a small smile appear on her face.

The sound of running made its way past Marie's cell.

She looked up, passed her tangled hair and towards the closed metal door. She moved her eyes up to the ceiling where the lights began to flicker and the building shook, some dust falling down around the room.

Marie sat up as the sound of footsteps running past her cell became more, confusing her immensely.

Her eyebrows knitted together and she tried leaning forward, her grey eyes widening as her back sent out another sharp pain.

Alarms started going off and she could hear gunfire nearby, along with the sound of people fighting back with their powers.

Were people escaping?

"H-help…" She struggled to say.

Marie pulled herself up and leaned forward even more, desperately trying to break her hands free from the handcuffs.

"Help!" Marie yelled as loud as she could. She heard a cell or two open near hers. They weren't coming… why weren't they coming? "Somebody! Please!?"

A sudden dent was made in the door and Marie's eyes widened, thinking of a possibility that these could be the bad guys trying to capture mutants.

A few more dents were placed from the other side of the door, now becoming more violent than before.

After a few more seconds whoever was on the other side stopped and cursed under his breath.

"Hey bub, what's your name?" a man's slightly annoyed voice called out to her.

"Marie!" she yelled, hoping he could hear her clear enough.

"Okay, Marie. Got any special mutation I should know of that can help break down this door?" he called out.

Marie shook her head. She was pretty useless, not knowing what she could do besides hurt others. "You didn't tell me your name."

"Hey, kid!" the man said, sounding impatient. "I'd hate to say this to you, but this is a life or death situation. Can you help me with the door or not?"

"No... I'm chained up," she said, hoping she wouldn't have to go into detail as to why she was tied up like some animal.

"Great," the man said sarcastically. "This is gonna hurt."

"What is?" Marie frowned.

The sound of blades scraping against one another was heard, followed by the sudden mutilation of six sharp blades disassembling the door.

The second it was kicked down Marie quickly turned her head away and closed her eyes in fear that she was going to get fried by a beam.

The man's footsteps made their way towards her and she opened her eyes, looking towards the man's black boots, slowly moving her eyes up.

He was wearing a tight black suit made from a material she had never seen before. He had a belt around his pants, with a silver circular plate that had a white _X_ engraved on it. His body seemed well built.

Pierced through his gloves were three blades on each hand. The looked like hey could extend to the same length of two of her hands placed in front of one another.

She looked up at his face and her eyes widened.

His eyes were a dark brown under the room's light. His face shape was not too big and not too thin. His eyebrows were thick. His hair had been gelled back into a shape that looked like pointed dark brown animals ears.

The man stared at her, taking in her petite figure, over worn clothes and messy long brown hair. He noticed that she once had a short whit fringe, but by now it was beginning to blend in with her long knotted hair.

"Your hair… the white…" the man said, destroying the cuffs on her wrists with his claws.

"What about it?" Marie pulled her hands down in front of her, rubbing her wrists gently.

"Is it part of your mutation?" the man asked.

"It went like that the day they did a big experiment on me," Marie said.

"And how long ago was that?"

Marie shrugged. "I can't remember. They captured me when I was eight-years-old. What year is it?"

The man paused and knelt down in front of her, realizing she must be older than fifteen. She's only known this life.

"What year were you born?" the man asked gently.

"'97," she said, curious as to why he asked.

The man calculated her age in his head and looked away. She's seventeen.

It made him angry how some sick men could have captured anyone let alone a little girl who's spent most of her life in here.

"Logan," he said, looking back at Marie. "That's my name."

Marie's eyes widened in awe. Logan. It suited him.

Logan stood up and held out his hand. "Come. I know a place you'd love."

Marie took his hand and he pulled her up gently.


End file.
